Police: Muncie father arrested; shaken baby fights for life

MUNCIE, Ind. – A Muncie infant is battling for his life in an Indianapolis hospital after being severely shaken by his father, city police said.

Michael Dwayne Crook Jr., 26, of the 800 block of West Powers Street, was arrested Wednesday, preliminarily charged with aggravated battery, neglect of a dependent and obstruction of justice.

Emergency medical personnel were called to a home in the 1200 block of West Powers Street shortly after 9 a.m. on Jan. 17 after Crook reported his son, who is four months old, had started to choke and stopped breathing.

The baby was taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, and later transferred to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, where he continued to be treated – and was reportedly listed in critical condition – on Thursday.

According to a report by city police investigator Kristofer Swanson, Riley physicians said the boy was suffering from a severe brain bleed and hemorrhages in his eyes, and also had swelling in his neck ligaments.

A team of Riley physicians specializing in child abuse said the baby’s injuries “would have resulted from violent acceleration-deceleration” and “would have required an amount of force that a reasonable caregiver would clearly recognized as dangerous to an 11-pound infant.”

On the day the baby was hospitalized, Crook told authorities his son, at the home of the baby’s mother, was being watched by a baby sitter when he arrived that morning for a visit.

The Muncie man said he burped the infant, who a short time later “began to choke and stopped breathing.” Crook said he then called 911 and twice revived the infant by performing CPR.

On Wednesday, investigators interviewed both Crook and the baby’s 28-year-old mother.

She said Crook had spent the night of Jan. 16-17 at her home, and was “angry” that morning when she woke him up to watch the infant so she could leave for work.

According to Swanson’s report, Crook on Wednesday admitted he became frustrated with the baby after the mother left for work, and “shook him to try and get him to stop crying.”

The father said he then placed the child in a baby seat, and the infant began to vomit. He said when he picked the baby up “to clear his airway,” he noticed (the boy) had stopped breathing and no longer had a heartbeat.”

Crook – being held in the Delaware County jail on Thursday under a $45,000 bond – is also preliminarily charged with being a habitual offender.

According to court records, Crook since 2016 has twice been convicted of domestic battery, most recently last August when he received a suspended three-year sentence.

He was also convicted of battery resulting in bodily injury last March, and criminal recklessness in 2015.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.